JETLINERS NARROWLY AVOID COLLIDING : LAX-BOUND AIRCRAFT CONVERGE ON RADAR.

Byline: Jeff Wilson Associated Press 

Two jumbo jetliners nearly collided over the city while approaching Los Angeles International Airport after a pilot failed to follow controller instructions, officials said Thursday.

A Brazilian VASP MD-11 veered in front of a KLM Dutch Royal Airlines Boeing 747-B about 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, forcing the KLM jet into an evasive maneuver. Both aircraft landed safely.

A Federal Aviation Administration spokesman did not know how close the airliners had come to each other, but an air traffic controllers union spokesman said it was a matter of several hundred feet.

The aircraft were 200 to 400 feet apart at one point about 10 miles east of the airport over densely populated South Central Los Angeles, said Kevin McGrath, a National Air Traffic Controllers Association spokesman.

``The two targets merged on the radar scope,'' McGrath said. ``The controller watching this was helpless. The individuals working the aircraft were pretty shook up about it.''

One shaken controller was sent home early, McGrath said.

The FAA said the distance remained under investigation.

``The separation between the aircraft isn't clear. We are investigating the distance,'' FAA regional spokesman Mitch Barker said from Seattle.

Jetliners are generally kept a mile apart, but that can vary with each airport, Barker said.

There were 344 passengers and a crew of 15 to 20 on board KLM Flight 601, KLM spokesman Peter Wellhuner said from Amsterdam.

The number of people aboard VASP Flight 895 was unknown. Depending on configuration, the McDonnell Douglas MD-11 carries up to 410 passengers.

The VASP airliner from Osaka, Japan, veered in front of the KLM jet from Amsterdam, forcing the KLM pilot to take evasive action, Barker said.

``On final approach the pilot didn't comply with air controller instructions to turn,'' he said. It wasn't known if language was a factor.

``We are looking into this. KLM had VASP in sight from four miles away and kept it in sight at all times. We're calling this a pilot deviation,'' Barker said.

VASP spokesman Linoel Dias at company headquarters in Sao Paolo said the airline officially was unaware that any dangerous situation had occurred.

He said he did not know how close the planes had come to each other or whether the VASP pilot had disobeyed instructions from the tower.

``The traffic was intense, and the two planes were making their landing approach,'' Dias said. ``Because of the proximity between them, the control tower asked the pilot to discontinue his approach.''

The VASP pilot pulled up, made a new approach and landed, Dias said.

Two aircraft may land simultaneously on two parallel runways about 625 feet apart on the airport's south side.

The VASP pilot was ordered to land on Runway 24 Right and instead went toward 24 Left, KLM's Wellhuner said.

``That is not good, of course,'' Wellhuner said.

The KLM pilot, who was on a heading for 24 Left, was then directed to Runway 24 Right, he said.

Pilot sanctions were possible, Barker said.